I only got to see a few highlights from the 2008 Olympic Trials, and with my relatively newly reaffirmed interest in competition, I made sure to watch as much of Trials as I could this year. Here's my recap of what I thought were the highlights of Trials (all of them finals).
Day 1
Men's 400 IM: You can see the video here. Tyler Clary gave it his best shot, but he's like me in that the front half of his IM is better than the second half. Of course, this will come down to a battle between Phelps and Lochte. I give the edge to Lochte in London in this event, at least based on this race at Trials. Phelps' start and turns were pretty cruddy, and his turns didn't really improve till the last day or two of the meet. Lochte's definitely got him there. Phelps, on the other hand, has him in fly, but Lochte isn't too far behind. Lochte then has him on the middle portion of the race, and I *think* has a slight edge on him in free. Plus, I love how Lochte effectively stops trying at the flags coming into the finish. Overall, unless Phelps can greatly improve his turns, I give this one to Lochte hands down in London. On a side note, Lochte, Phelps, and Clary handily swam the top three times in the world this year in the 400 IM at Trials. If Lochte had swum all the way into the wall, I think he'd have cut off a second and a half or so from his time, which would put him just shy of the US record and within 1.75 seconds or so of the world record. Should be a heck of a race between the two!
Day 2
Men's 100 breast: You can see the race here. This race was all Brendan Hansen. Coming out of retirement to try for the team, I didn't have high hopes for him. However, he took a commanding lead and won this race pretty handily, with Eric Shanteau taking second. Both are Olympic veterans, and it's always nice to see guys like that making it back for more than one Olympics. That being said, neither swam particularly fast for the world rankings--Brendan Hansen's time puts him 5th in the world this year, and Eric Shanteau's time only puts him at 12th. Hansen would need to drop nearly .75 to take the top time of the year. Theoretically doable, yes, but I think it's unlikely. That being said, I sure look forward to seeing what the next three weeks of training will do for those two!
Women's 100 fly: Here's the race. Dana Vollmer owned this one. While she was a bit off her semifinals time (due to her long finish, I'd say), she still won this one handily. She broke her own American record in semifinals, and that time put her just .35 off the world record. It also puts here .3 seconds ahead of the second fastest time this world and a full .8 seconds ahead of the third fastest. With the next three weeks of technique and stuff, I'd say she's got a really good shot at the world record.
Day 3
Women's 100 back: Here's the video of the race. Missy Franklin is insane. That's about all I can say. Prior to Trials, I hadn't followed her at all. I knew the name, and that she was apparently some sort of freak of nature, but that was about it. In this race, she started a trend that continued throughout the rest of the meet (with the exception of her 200 back)--she starts off solidly middle or towards the back of the pack and just takes off towards the end of the race. Going into the turn, Natalie Coughlin was in the lead or tied for the lead, and there was a marked distance between her and Missy, who was 3rd or 4th at the turn and wasn't much better at the 75. It looked like Natalie really tightened up at about the 85m mark, and Missy just kept going and set a new American record in the process. All that being said, Missy didn't have a perfect race, and yet her American record is only about .7 off the world record, and is the fastest time in the world this year, to boot. I'd say she's got a really good shot at taking down that record in London; on a side note, that world record is one of the records that was set during the "super suit" era in 2009. Very few records that were set then have come down, male or female.
Men's 100 back: Here's the visual recording of the competition. Matt Grevers is a beast (6'8") and won this one at the turn. Going into the turn, it was pretty much a dead heat, and he came out a head and shoulders ahead of the pack and accelerated away from there to finishing more than half a bodylength ahead of second place. Like Missy Franklin, I'd heard his name but hadn't followed him. His time puts him nearly .75 ahead of the next fastest time in the world this year and just .14 off Aaron Piersol's super suit era world/American/US record. I'd say he's got a phenomenal chance of breaking that record. I was quite impressed with the swim--he swam over a second faster than he did in Beijing, when he got silver in the 100 back behind Aaron Piersol. Rick Thoman, who got second at Trials, is currently seated third in the world, just .11 behind the #2. It's conceivable for the US to get gold and silver in this in London!
Men's 200 free: Here's the video. This was another two person race between Phelps and Lochte. Phelps took the lead early on, but Lochte had much better turns. Phelps just outtouched Lochte, but I think this race could just as easily have gone the other way. I really don't know what's going on with Phelps' turns--I've never seen them look this, well...pedestrian. I dunno if it was just something off for him, or if his turns in general are relatively crappy now. Anyways, their times put them #2 and #3 in the world this year, with the #1 spot being nearly 1.3 seconds ahead of them. I'd like to think that with a tightening of their strokes over the next three weeks, they'll take gold and silver, but at this point I can't say who I'd call for which medal. On a side note, the US should dominate the 800 free relay. The fastest four American 200 freestylers going to London are in the top 11 in the world this year. EDIT--it looks like Phelps has dropped the 200 free and Ricky Berens will swim it in his place.
Day 4
Women's 200 free: Here's the vid-ay-oh. Besides Allison Schmitt destroying her own American and US records in the event, it was a pretty ho-hum race. She's 1.5 seconds off the super suit era world record, so I dunno if she'll be able to pull that out, but she has a great shot at getting gold. Missy Franklin got 2nd, but it wasn't a very inspiring finish. The American 800 free relay is looking at silver in London, I think. Only the top three Americans are in the top 15 ranking this year, while Australia's four are all in the top 10.
Men's 200 fly: El video esta aqui. Michael Phelps won this one easily, with Tyler Clary rallying from behind to swoop up and take second. I only hope Phelps wasn't going all out, as he was over 2 seconds off his world record from the super suit days. He's currently seated #1 in the world and Clary is #5. There's less than half a second between #5 and #3, so the US might be able to get two medals out of this event in London.
Day 5
Men's 100 free: X marks the spot. Lezak! Lezak! I was only hoping for one thing in this race, that Jason Lezak would place in the top 6 in the final and make it to London in either the individual event or the relay. At 37 years old, he is 9 years older than the next oldest guy who swam in the final, Cullen Jones. Lezak has been pretty much the go-to relay guy for the US, being the anchor for a mix of medley and free relays in the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Olympics. His performance on the 2008 400 free relay is quite possibly the most awe inspiring race I've ever seen. Here's the video of that race. Seriously, Lezak's leg of that race gives me chills. Anyways, I was really pulling for him to make it on the relay in London, but he had to get 6th or better to do so. Nathan Adrian owned the race and took first quite handily, with Cullen Jones coming in second. Lezak got sixth! I was quite surprised (in a good way) with Jones' performance, but more about that later. Anyways, with Lezak having secured a relay birth, I'd love to see him swim fast enough on the prelims relay to earn a spot in the top four of the team to make it on the finals relay. If he could be the anchor again, he might pull off another completely Herculean effort like in 2008, when he completely smashed the world record for fastest relay split. Either way, I'm extremely happy he's back for his fourth Olympics! On a slightly downbeat note, though, the US looks to be fighting France for silver in the event, with how the times stand now. Australia looks to have a firm grip on gold, with the top two fastest 100 freestylers this year. Their fastest is a full second faster than Nathan Adrian, our fastest this year. Australia has the 1st, 2nd, 9th, and 15th fastest times this year. We have the 4th, 11th, 12th, and 14th. France has the 3rd, 10th, and 12th. Russia might be in the mix, too, with the 5th, 6th, and 8th seeds this year. Of course, all that said, I believe we went into Beijing seated second behind France, and thanks solely to Lezak, got the gold. Who knows how it will play out this year!
Men's 200 breast: The vid's here. Clark! Clark! Prior to the actual start of Trials, I had no idea Clark Burckle was still swimming. Back in highschool, when I lived in Louisville, he swam on one of the other teams and we swam against each other in the 200 and 400 IM a few times that I can recall (at the time, I could give him a run for his money on the front half of the IM, and then he'd downright murder me on the second half, mostly due to my abysmal breaststroke). I worked for four years at the clubs his dad owned, and Clark was also a coworker of mine for one summer. Anyways, I was quite surprised that he made it to the finals of the 100 breast, although he didn't make the team in that, and was really looking forward to seeing his 200. In semifinals, he, Hansen, and Shanteau had an electrifying three way race, with Clark touching out both of them. The final was a similarly enthralling race, with Scott Weltz (who had just been middle of the pack in the semifinal) winning and Clark getting second, just barely touching out Shanteau. So proud of Clark! On a downbeat note, Weltz's time, the fastest of any American this year, was only good enough to put him 5th in the world, and Clark's finals time (not his fastest this year) would put him at 13th. The Japanese have the top two slots, so it should be quite interesting to see how that plays out in London.
Day 6
Men's 200 back: Here's the link for the video. This was a two person race between Lochte and Tyler Clary. The race itself wasn't all that special, but it was interesting to see Lochte's strategy--he looked like he was pretty much loafing the first 150, then turned it on the last 50, dropping almost .8 from the previous 50. His and Clary's times put them 2nd and 3rd in the world this year. I think it is very feasible for them to take gold and silver.
Men's 200 IM: The video is here. As usual, this was a two person race between Phelps and Lochte. This final was about 25 minutes after Lochte's 200 back final, and I can only imagine how much he was hurting at this point. The 200 back just HURTS and takes a good while to recover fully from. Phelps' turns looked better in this race than at the beginning of the meet, but honestly, that's not that hard to do. Phelps held Lochte on the back and actually had a slightly faster breast leg--I'd imagine that was due to Lochte's 200 back, since he's normally faster than Phelps on both. Phelps touched out Lochte, but in better conditions, I'd give this race to Lochte. That being said, their times were handily the top two in the world this year, and both are less than a second off of Lochte's world record he set last year. This should be a heck of a race for the two of them in London.
Day 7
Women's 200 back: Here's the race. Missy Franklin dominated this race, and exhibited a very different race strategy in this than I saw in her other events. In the others, she started off middle of the pack or towards the back of the pack and accelerated at the end of the race, whereas this time she started off in the lead and kept it. As a viewer, I prefer that type of race, rather than the more nerve wracking race strategy she utilized in her other races. Her time puts her 1st in the world this year, and Elizabeth Beisel, who got 2nd, is currently ranked 4th. I can see them both medalling.
Men's 50 free: Da veedeeoh es hear. This was a surprising race, especially with the return of Anthony Ervin. A sprinter who took gold in the 50 in 2000, he retired before he 2004 Olympics, and as far as I can tell, didn't do any competitive swimming till last fall. Coming back after a 8+ year hiatus, he took 2nd in the 50, beating out Nathan Adrian and Matt Grevers, the favorites. The other big surprise was that Cullen Jones won the 50. In 2008, he didn't place very well at Trials and only swam on the 400 free relay. This time around, he will swim in the individual 50 and 100, and the 400 free relay. I'm quite impressed with his turnaround, especially since he's now ranked 2nd in the world this year, with Anthony Ervin 3rd. Very impressed with how both of them swam!
I didn't get a chance to watch Dara Torres' 50 free yesterday, but I'm extremely impressed that she got 4th, and she's nearly 20 years older than her competitors!
****
Overall, Trials was a blast to watch, and we've got some phenomenal swimmers going to London. Here's hoping we dominate the swimming portion of the Olympics again!
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